


A New Start

by RandomnonsenseDA (B1nary_S0lo)



Series: Avenie Caron [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Warden Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 10:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12187851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B1nary_S0lo/pseuds/RandomnonsenseDA
Summary: Avenie Caron, the new Warden Commander of Fereldan, wants her men to like her. Unfortunately, Oghren doesn't.





	A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is based on my interpretation of how Oghren responds to an Orlesian Warden in Awakening. Basically, he doesn't recognize you, but I thought it would be interesting if his cold reception actually had to do with grief.
> 
> Also, I realized upon getting ready to post this that I've been spelling Oghren's name wrong for years now. Oops.

Avenie knew from moment she met Oghren that he was going to be difficult. Their first encounter in the Keep, he gave her a hard look and made a comment about her “not being what he expected,” and their relationship only went down hill from there.

Not that Avenie blamed him. He had traveled with the Warden who’d sacrificed herself to stop the Blight, and here was Avenie–a stranger, a foreigner–here to take on the very position meant for his deceased friend. No wonder he was resentful and suspicious. But, it was all right. Avenie had known that becoming Warden-Commander of Fereldan wouldn’t be without it’s challenges, and she resolved to show Oghren she was someone who could be trusted.

But even as the weeks went by and Avenie bonded with the rest of her new recruits, she still struggled to reach Oghren. Though she went out of her way to be kind to him and ask his opinion on things, he barely spoke to her on missions, and avoided her in the Keep. Occasionally, she caught him looking at her strangely–a searching glance, laced with distrust. It weighed on Avenie more than she liked to admit.

Avenie had almost given up hope on Oghren when she found him in the Keep’s small tavern one night. He seemed to be having a rough time of it, lying in the middle of the floor and looking as though he was going to be sick. After apologizing to the tavern keeper, Avenie bent and slung one of his arms over her shoulder– _zut_ , he was heavier than she’d expected–and half carried him back to the Keep.

“…don’t need to do this…” Oghren mumbled as they entered the main hall. In spite of his difficulty walking and the slur to his speech, he seemed lucid enough. “Jus-jus put me down and I’ll make it back on my own…”

“You can barely walk, Oghren,” she said. They rounded the first corner, and he snorted.

“You think I can’t manage on my own you–you–”

 _Here it comes,_  Avenie thought, but Oghren seemed to give up on coming up with a good insult and fell silent again. Avenie adjusted her hold on him. 

“You are one of my men,” she said.  The sound of her sturdy boots echoed across the stones of the quiet Keep. “It is my responsibility to see to your well being. Much as you may not want it.”

Oghren didn’t respond. When she glanced down his eyes were closed, and she wondered for a moment if he’d passed out. But then, to her surprise, he chuckled.

“She used to say stuff like that,” he said.

Avenie felt the very air still. Though he’d never spoken of his lost friend in her presence before, she didn’t need to ask Oghren who “she” was. She hardly dared to breath, in case doing so prevented him from saying more. He kept going, though.

“She was a good kid,” he said. “Always lookin’ out for me. For everyone.” He sighed. When he spoke again, it was so quiet that he might have been talking to himself, not to Avenie at all. “How is it that she’s gone and I’m still here? How is that sodding fair…?”

He went quiet again, eyes closed once more.

“I’m sorry, Oghren,” Avenie said quietly. She wasn’t sure if he heard.

When they reached the barracks, Avenie dragged him inside and helped him into his bunk–a lower one, thankfully. He seemed barely conscious, so she helped him under the blankets and made sure he was lying on his side. It wasn’t until she was about to leave that she heard him stir.

“Thanks, boss…” he said quietly. It was the first time he’d ever addressed her by any sort of title. She looked back, smiled.

“Don’t mention it,” she said.

She heard his mattress shift, and then pronounced snoring. She quietly left the room–not certain of a new start, but hoping for one.


End file.
